Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings (77 page)

Luopu asked Jiashan, “How does one realize the place that isn’t reached by buddhas and demons?”

Jiashan said, “A candle illuminates a thousand miles of forms. Inside my room I’m confused.”

Luopu also asked, “How is it when the morning sun has risen and the night moon is not visible?”

Jiashan said, “In the dragon’s mouth is a pearl, but the swarming fish don’t notice it.”

When Jiashan was about to die, he said, “The Shitou branch! Look! Look! The last teacher passes away.”

Luopu said, “Not so.”

Jiashan said, “Why?”

Luopu said, “His house has a green mountain.”

Jiashan said, “If indeed that’s so, then my teaching won’t collapse.”

Jiashan then passed away.

Luopu went to Cenyang where he encountered an old friend. They talked about hiding out [during the Wuchang era suppression of Buddhism], and his friend asked, “Where did you flee during the persecution?”

Luopu said, “I just remained in the middle of the market.”

His friend said, “Why didn’t you go where there weren’t any people?”

Luopu said, “What problems are there where there are no people?”

His friend asked, “How did you escape by being in the market?”

Luopu said, “Although I remained in the middle of the market, no one knew me.”

His friend was perplexed. He also asked, “The teachings of all buddhas, the transmission of all the ancestors, when these were not concealed, then what happened?”

Luopu said, “Before an old rustic’s door, there is no talk of the affairs of the royal court.”

His friend asked, “What do you mean by this?”

Luopu said, “If one doesn’t encounter others, after all, nothing is revealed.”

His friend said, “When someone who’s not from the royal court arrives and you meet him, can you speak with him or not?”

Luopu said, “The immeasurable function! It’s seen in arduous circumstances.”

A monk asked Zen master Luopu, “What if I want to return to my country home?”

Luopu said, “The houses are demolished and the people are dead. To where would you return?”

The monk said, “In that case I won’t go back.”

Luopu said, “The sun melts the snow at the front of the courtyard, but who will sweep the dust that has drifted into the room?”

Luopu then recited the following verse:

If your resolve is to return home,
Then board the boat that ferries o’er the five lakes.
Raise the boat pole; stars and moon are hidden.
Stop the oar; the sun is alone.
Slip the moorage and leave the baneful shore.
Hoist the sail and set off on the true way.

On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, Luopu said to the monks, “If I don’t die tomorrow then it will be soon after. Today I have one question to ask you all. If you say
this
is it, then you are putting a head on top of your head. If you say
this
isn’t it, then you’re seeking life by cutting off your head.”

The head monk said, “The green mountain does not lift its feet. Don’t carry a lamp in broad daylight.”

Luopu said, “Why talk in such a way at a time like this?”

At that time a monk named Yancong spoke to Luopu, saying, “Apart from these two roads, I ask the master to not ask.”

Luopu said, “That’s not it. Speak again.”

Yancong said, “I can’t say it entirely.”

Luopu said, “I don’t care if you can say it entirely or not.”

Yancong said, “I answered you undeferentially.”

Luopu then was quiet. That evening he had his attendant summon Yancong, and then said to him, “Your answer today had meaning. You are in accordance with understanding my late teacher’s meaning. He taught, ‘What is in front of the eyes is not the Dharma. Consciousness is in front of the eyes. It is not Dharma that is in front of the eyes.
It
is not what
meets
the ear and eyes.’”

Then Luopu said, “Now tell me, what phrase is the ‘guest,’ and what phrase is the ‘host.’ If you can tell them apart, then I’ll give you the robe and bowl of succession.”

Yancong said, “I don’t understand.”

Luopu said, “You can understand.”

Yancong said, “I really can’t do it!”

Luopu shouted and said, “How awful!” ([Later,] Xuanjue commented on this, saying, “If monk Cong says he doesn’t understand, then Luopu is afraid that the bowl and robe will be stuck to him.”)

The next day during the noon session, a different monk asked the master about the previous day’s conversation.

Luopu said, “The boat of compassion is not rowed across pure waves. In a narrow strait the disciple futilely put out a wooden goose.”
¹²⁴
The master then passed away.

JIUFENG DAOQIAN

JIUFENG DAOQIAN (d. 923) was a disciple of Shishuang Qingzhu. He came from ancient Fuzhou. Until Shishuang’s death, Jiufeng served as his student and personal attendant. At the invitation of the other monks Jiufeng then assumed the vacant abbacy of the monastery. Later he moved to Jiufeng (“Nine Peaks”) in Ruizhou (near modern Gao’an in Jiangxi Province), where he acquired his mountain name. During his later years he lived first at Shimen, where he had many students, and finally at Letan.

Jiufeng served as Shishuang’s attendant. When Shishuang passed away, the congregation invited the head monk to become abbot.

Jiufeng said to the congregation, “First, he must show that he understood our late master’s great meaning, then he can become abbot.”

The head monk said, “What teaching do you mean?”

Jiufeng said, “Our late teacher said, ‘Desist! Become barren autumn ground! Have one thought for ten thousand years. Be a cold dead tree. Be an ancient incense dish. Be a blank strip of white silk.’ Not asking about the rest, what is a ‘strip of white silk’?”

The head monk said, “This teaching illuminates a matter of form.”

Jiufeng said, “Fundamentally, you don’t comprehend our late teacher’s meaning.”

The monk said, “You don’t approve of my answer? Then light a stick of incense, and if I don’t go before it is burned up, then you can say I don’t understand our late master’s meaning.”
¹²⁵

A stick of incense was then lit, but before it burned down, the head monk died.

Shishuang patted the head monk’s body on the back and said, “Dying while sitting or passing away while standing isn’t it. You didn’t see our late master’s meaning even in your dreams.”